Lesson 835: Swish

 Hello, Readers!

We'll start with a mini-lesson tonight.

The elementary students learn this term:

Splish and splosh are examples,

which is the sound this water droplet

will make when it hits the ground,

perceptible to only the passing ant, most likely.

Should ants 

and splish-sploshes 

be a part

of a February narrative?

With the wet comes fog.

Misty fog is so pretty.

So is the morning light 

we are now getting to see 

by 6:30 am.

I like the word swish.

It has multiple sounds it represents.

Like a gentle breeze rustling the small branches.

It's the sound of children's winter coat sleeves

when they run at recess.

It's the sound my winter wind pants make 

when we walk the dogs in the park.

Swish,

most famously,

is the sound the ball makes 

going through the hoop

when there is

nothing

but 

net.

The Huskies basketball season has ended

with a first round loss in the playoffs

to Grove City.

Sam is always fun to watch.

He's cheered his 6'8" giant teammate on all season.

He's a towering force under the hoop

we will sorely miss next year,

as Braylen is a senior and is moving on.

Sam didn't expect much varsity playing time

during the playoff game.

Until Braylen got into foul trouble in the first half.

Sam made is way into a very fast paced game

that unfortunately did not end in our favor.

The game a week ago Friday,

the last regular season game played out in Edinboro,

did end well and was fun to watch.

Ellen brought her friends from Canada and Colorado

to that game.

They were very entertained by McLane's Senior Night,

the pep band,

and each school's cheering section.

Whoop,

Zing,

Zip,

Gag,

Splash,

and

Gasp

are all examples of onomatopoeia.

They remind me of this week's Favorite Funny.

Grandma sent this to me with two words:

Find Sam.

It's reminiscent of my favorite capture ever:
Sam's first coaster ride--

the Log Ride at Waldameer.

If Sam chooses Penn State next year,

you can be darn sure this photo is going on the

graduation invite.

Eloise

Lesson 834: Unusual February

 Hello, Readers.

It's been an unusual February.

Valentine's Day was in the middle of the week.

Holidays always feel weird when they fall on a Wednesday.

Valentine's Day always feels like a weekend thing.

These cards from my pets were fun.

A friend commented on how nice their handwriting was.

I even got a card from my feral cats.

They aren't as thankless as I thought.

5:00 am feedings every single day--

I'm worth the card.

I took the advice of an organization expert on TikTok

and made a full year view calendar on my dot pages of my planner.

It's nice to look at today's date,

and see how much of the year is behind you,

and how much of the year you have left to go.

Instead of dividing it into the four seasons,

I divided the year in 3 sections running horizontally 

across the two page spread.

A row for the long, colder months.

A row for the free-wheeling fun months.

A row for the pretty family holiday months.

The weather has been very unusual for February.

I'm used to looking at a snow covered tree

at the base of the Clark School hill.

No snow this week,

but the lake looked extra unusual.

Here's the typical Erie,

low-lying cloud cover

with a late afternoon break in the sky.

It made the vineyards look really pretty,

like they were all lit up.

It's easy to get around the park for dog walks this month.

Not much color in the woods this time of year,

except for our coats.

Natalie wears the yellow,

and I wear the blue.

Locals, have you spotted us yet?

I think you could see them from the moon.

We've been watching this nest hold tight to its branch

through all of the recent wind.

These hives amaze me!

This is my favorite woodsy kind of art work.
Artists,

does the style of art have a name?

It's unusual,

but I love it.

link to artwork HERE

It's unusual to go through almost the entire basketball season,

without a nail-biting trip home

on dark, snowy roads.

Until tonight, that is!

It was a slippery ride home from McLane!

Sam had a big game against a tough team.

A team that's always tough to beat,

we beat twice this season!

A memory popped up this week of Slam and Truck

on their first YMCA basketball team together.

It's the most unusual thing about time,

the days are long

and the years are short.

This book isn't short,

but I'm glad because the story is good

and well written.

I've been alone, too long,

just me and my books.

We'll have an 

Anything But A Book Club Book Club meeting soon.

It looks like the basketball team is headed to 

the playoffs,

so I'll pick a date in March

after the season ends.

I'm writing unusually late for a Friday,

which means it's almost Saturday,

which means

it's time for night-night.

See you next week.

I'll leave the Lamp Post light on for you.

Eloise

Lesson 833: Day and Night

 Hello, Readers!

It's Eloise returning from a fun evening.

Natalie attended Tim Tebow's Night to Shine

with all of her friends.

She put on her sparkly dress and shoes by day,

and at night returned the Queen.

It's been a very mild winter so far.  

Hazel watches the sunrise from her bed.

It's so pretty as it makes way across the frosty vineyard.

My lens finds the beauty in any season.

At night time we are still gone most evenings.

Mondays-ice skating

Wednesdays--pool and bowling

Thursdays--Master Gardener

Tuesdays and Friday--bleacher bound!

There are two games left in the regular season

and we are hoping for a chance at the play-offs.

It's not an easy make

as we have big schools on our schedule

like Erie (lost a close one to them tonight)

McDowell

and the bulldogs of Meadville.

I LOVE their mascot!

Readers--

I wish I had a better closing

or one more photo to wrap this blog up,

buy my energy has set like the sun,

The difference between Eloise in the morning

and Eloise at night,

is like night and day.

It's time for me to rest a few hours

and get back at it all tomorrow.

Here's some good advice from Eleanor

because Eloise has none to give tonight:

I'm already looking forward to 

that morning cup of coffee.

Eloise